I loved my friend
by Kelly6
Summary: (Chlex) Chloe and Clark sort out their feelings towards each other and Chloe moves on.
1. Irony

Author's note: This story takes place a right before heat. It's rated PG- 13 just because of a few naughty words.  
  
Disclaimer: Please don't sue!! I need what little money I have to pay for my therapy.  
  
*Please give me feedback. I want to know how to improve*  
  
"I loved my friend  
  
he went away from me.  
  
There's nothing more to say.  
  
This poem ends,  
  
soft as it began-  
  
I loved my friend."  
  
-Langston Hughes-  
  
Chloe sighed as she read through the page again. How ironic. Does the whole universe hate her? Or was it just her Literature teacher? It was just her luck that she gets assigned to dissect and analyze this particular poem only about a month or two after what she has begun to call the "prom incident", one of her bigger mistakes.  
  
She wondered if Clark had ever realized that she never actually wanted to be "just friends" that that was simply her way of masking her pain. She also wondered if he had ever felt the same way about her as she had felt about him; madly, deeply, hopelessly in love.  
  
"Miss Sullivan?" Chloe's head snapped up. "Miss Sullivan, do you know the answer?" Shit. Still in class. What were they talking about? She looked helplessly at Clark who, after first checking to make sure Mr. Bishop wasn't looking, mouthed the number 274.  
  
"Two hundred and seventy-four?" Mr. Bishop looked upset at having lost the chance to publicly humiliate her.  
  
"That is correct." He said through gritted teeth, his frown threatening to take over his face. Yes! Another point for the farm boy! She flashed him a thumbs-up sign and (what she hoped was) a brilliant smile. Then, she zoned back out as Mr. Bishop droned endlessly about the absolute value of inequalities. (How very exciting.)  
  
A period later, (Lunch, Chloe's favorite!) she slid her tray down in front of Clark and Pete. "I'm seriously considering doing an expose about this." She said pointing to the mound of discolored meat heaped onto her plate. "I can see the headline now, 'The Reason the Meat is a Mystery: What the Lunch Ladies Aren't Telling You about the Food They Serve.'"  
  
"Personally, I'd rather have it kept a mystery. If I knew what was in this, I doubt I could keep it down." Pete chimed in.  
  
Chloe turned to face her other friend. "So, what do you think, Clark?" She waited for his response for a moment before speaking again. "Clark?"  
  
Her efforts were in vain and she had a feeling that was because of a certain raven-haired beauty. She followed his gaze and, sure enough, there was Lana -the girl Clark's pined for ever since he stopped thinking girls had cooties. "Clark?" Nothing. "Clark, Pete really likes you and he wants to have hot sweaty sex in the backseat of your truck." That earned her a playful smack from Pete, but she still got no response from Clark; that boy was hopeless. Clark finally returned from Lana Land and caught sight of his two friends staring at him, obviously annoyed. He blushed furiously, his face a deep crimson, when he realized that he had been daydreaming, yet again. This one had seemed so real, though.  
  
He and Chloe had been working late at the Torch when, all of a sudden, he had a lap-full of Chloe. He leaned in toward her, lips poised and-  
  
"Clark?" But alas, it was only a dream; a wonderful dream, but just a dream, nonetheless. Chloe seemed a little angry with him; she hated it when her audience wasn't a captive one. He wondered if she would be as angry if she knew it was her he was dreaming about, before mentally kicking himself. 'Yes! Remember, genius? She wants to be just friends, I think she made that abundantly clear the day of the prom' Oh well, a boy could dream.  
  
He joined in their conversation, staring at Chloe the whole time, thinking how beautiful she was. She was especially beautiful when she was excited about something, like how she was now. He loved the way her eyes glimmered, the way her hair bounced when she chattered excitedly, and the way she smiled that perfect, perky, energetic smile that melted his heart and made him feel compelled to smile back. He loved everything about her. He loved her. He only wished she felt the same way. 


	2. The hard way

Author's note: This has a lot of dialogue in it. Sorry, but I just love to talk.  
  
The sun had set hours ago and Chloe was still in front of her teal I-Mac, typing furiously away, as was the norm for the day before the Torch was printed. She was scrambling to edit and layout the paper before her deadline passed when her cell phone rang. She jumped about a foot in the air. Her nerves were on end and she was chock-full of caffeine -she had been up late last night working on the Torch too- and that was never a good combination. She reached over and pulled a tiny orange phone out of her purse.  
  
"What?" She snapped impatiently.  
  
"Is that how you usually answer your cell, or do you save the pleasantries just for me?"  
  
"Lex? Why are you calling me?"  
  
"How very nice to hear from you, too. If you must know, I wanted to speak with Clark. I called his house, but his parents said that they didn't know where he was. I just assumed he was with you."  
  
"And you jumped to this assumption because?"  
  
"Because he's been with you for the past month straight. So can I talk to him or not?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, but I haven't seen him since school let out. Why don't you get into a life-threatening situation? He's bound to show up then."  
  
"I think I'll save that as my last resort, but thank you anyway, Miss Sullivan."  
  
"Anytime." And with that she continued typing. But now that she thought about it, where was Clark? If he wasn't home yet, where could he be? Maybe she'd just make a few calls, just to set her mind at ease.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Pete, have you seen Clark?"  
  
"Nope, he pulled another one of his famous disappearing acts. I swear he's going to be the next Houdini."  
  
"Do you have any clue where he would be?"  
  
"None whatsoever. Sorry I wasn't more help."  
  
"That's okay, bye."  
  
She dialed Lana's number and received basically the same answers. Where was that boy? Now she was getting nervous. She shut off her computer and grabbed her purse. She was going to pay a little visit to the Kent farm. Hopefully, Clark was home by now.  
  
Chloe's little orange Volkswagon beetle pulled in front of the pleasant little two-story home where her best friend lived. She got out of the car and walked up the front steps and onto the porch and was just about to ring the bell when she heard two voices -Mr. and Mrs. Kent- arguing.  
  
"Clark's a good boy, he'll be home soon." That was Mrs. Kent. Chloe loved Martha; she had been more of a mother to her than her real mother ever was.  
  
"What if he's in trouble?" Chloe knew that it was wrong to eavesdrop, but she just couldn't help it. She blamed it on those damn reporter instincts.  
  
"You know as well as I do that he can't get hurt." Huh? How was that? Now she was confused; she knew Clark was strong, but it's not like he's invincible. She pressed her ear against the door; she just had to figure this out.  
  
"Not if there are meteor rocks, you know what those do to him." Was Clark a meteor freak? No, not her Clark, he couldn't be.  
  
"Maybe we should look for him, then." Uh-oh, the voices were getting closer to the door; time to pretend that she hadn't been standing there the whole time, listening to their conversation. She backed down the steps, and then walked right back up them. Just as she neared the door, the Kent's popped out.  
  
"Hi!" She said, trying to sound as cheery as possible. She needed to seem clueless as to what was going on. "Is Clark home? I had to ask him something."  
  
Jonathan was the one to answer. "No, not yet. We were just on our way to pick him up." That wasn't an outright lie, but that wasn't entirely the truth either. What were they hiding? She needed to pry a little more to find out.  
  
"Oh really? Where is he? I haven't seen him in a while." Let's see what they say to that.  
  
"He's at Lex's." Jonathan replied with little hesitation. Now THAT was an utter lie. Now she had to know what they were keeping from her.  
  
Chloe shot them a sunny smile "Oh, okay. Just tell him I want to see him." She then strolled happily down to her car and drove away.  
  
Once she was done, Jonathan heaved a sigh of relief. He felt bad lying to the little blonde girl, but what she doesn't know, won't hurt her. He turned to face his wife. "I think it's about time we started looking."  
  
Chloe pulled her bug into the woods a little bit away from the exit of the farm and turned the lights off. Her mind was spinning; why were the Kent's lying to her about Clark? She of all people might have been the best one to find him. Now she had to do this the hard way. 


	3. Espresso with a shot of anti depressants

Author's note: Hey! I got like a million reviews about this fic and I will do both a Chlark and a Chlex. I actually have figured out stories for both. Since I promised Chlex first, this one will be a Chlex and I will (very soon) post the Chlark version. Thanks for the reviews and keep reading! *Kelly*  
  
Just as she shut off her lights, a red truck went by; the Kent truck. She turned her lights back on, as low as she could get them, and followed. They sped down the dusty roads, sending up massive clouds of dirt which didn't do much to improve Chloe's vision. They seemed to know where Clark was now, or at least have an idea, a set location to check. After a couple minutes Chloe recognized where they were headed. It was those caves Clark loved so much. They parked and she stayed far enough behind as to not be seen. She went in the back entrance of the cave to search for Clark.  
  
She stepped into the soft clay earth and into the cave. 'So much for my brand-new shoes.' she thought to herself bitterly. Oh well, that was the price of journalism. She walked quietly through, searching the area for her friend. He was probably just sitting there staring at the paintings; he most likely just lost track of time like he always did. She was sure he was fine.  
  
That's when she saw him. He was crumpled in a heap on the floor. She rushed over to him and checked his breathing and his heartbeat. His breathing was ragged, and his heartbeat was weak but there were still there; that was the important thing. What could have hurt him? There was nothing in sight except for a few harmless rocks lying around him. There were no cuts or bruises. What happened?  
  
"CLARK!!" Chloe spun around to see where the voice had emanated from. It was Martha. Chloe was found out now, but she didn't care. Right now her first priority was helping Clark. The maternal woman rushed to Clark's side and began taking the rocks off of him, throwing them as far as she could. As she did this, which miraculously seemed to drastically improve Clark's condition, Clark's father, Jonathan, was casting Chloe disapproving stares. She was going to get a lecture from him tonight.  
  
Somehow, Clark went from comatose to perfectly healthy in a matter of minutes. He sat up and took in his surroundings, his eyes lingering on Chloe. He looked up at his parents, bemused, as if to inquire about what she was doing here. The three Kent's immediately ganged up on poor Chloe. "What are you doing here?" Jonathan demanded. "I thought you were going home."  
  
Chloe had to face up now. She admitted that she had heard enough of their conversation to know that they really weren't sure where Clark was; that they had been lying to her. She was so embarrassed at being caught that she began to ramble on, spewing out any excuse that came to mind. Only Martha's face softened slightly as she took in the ashamed tone of the young woman; the other two still glared at her as though she were the anti- Christ or something. "If you don't mind me asking," Chloe interjected once she had regained her composure, "But why did Clark suddenly recover when you took the rocks off of him? Because as far as I know, no one is allergic to rocks. Does it have to do with what you two" she continued, pointing to Mr. and Mrs. Kent. "Were talking about before? Something about him not being able to get hurt except for meteor rocks?"  
  
Before either one of the older Kent's could respond, Clark was on his feet and in front of Chloe, his green eyes blazing with anger. "Why do you always have to push?! Why can't you ever just leave anything alone?! I ask you time and time again to respect my privacy and not pry, but do you listen? No! What kind of friend are you?!" He was practically screaming by the end of his rant, and it seemed all he could do to not physically harm her. Chloe looked up at him, "So that's how you see me? All I wanted was to help you, that's why I came here; to help you. And you scream at me for that? What kind of friend are you?" She yelled back, tears escaping from her eyes. She stormed out of the cave; mad at herself and her so- called best friend.  
  
She got into her car and sped off towards the one place where she would be left alone; the Talon. Lana would be home and she didn't feel like talking to her about this. It was only icing on the cake that she would be able to get coffee which is bound to cheer her up a little. She pulled right in front of the antique building and parked; there was never much business there at 10:30 on weeknights to begin with because their clientele was mainly teenagers, and it didn't help business that there was a major English exam tomorrow. She strolled in, walked up to the counter, ordered an espresso with a double-shot of almond from the rather bored looked waitress and went into the booth that was all the way in the back-left corner. No one would see her there, that is, if anyone she knew actually came in.  
  
She held her composure until after her order arrived, only allowing the tears to fall soundlessly down her face. Once the waitress left, she began to sob. How could Clark be so cruel? She was only trying to help. 


	4. Knight in shining Gucci's

Author's Note: I just want you to know that I don't hate Lana; I'm actually in the process of writing a fic that involves her and Clark, Defensive Reading. [Feel free to read it (hint hint)] Just sometimes she gets a little too whiny for my tastes. I like to dapple around with different couplings, I'm really a fence-sitter when it comes down to it; I don't have a preferred pair. All I know is that Chloe deserves to be loved by someone.  
  
Lex sauntered casually into his coffee shop, the Talon, one of his latest business ventures. He must admit that he never would have agreed to Lana's proposal if it hadn't been for Clark's pleading. No one could resist those pathetic puppy dog eyes of his, except -obviously- for Lana. Lex didn't know why Clark was constantly mooning over the little princess; it seemed that all she ever did was whine. Why didn't he go for someone with a little (make that a lot) more personality and was a little (also make that a lot) less self-absorbed? Like Chloe.  
  
He placed his order; espresso, double-shot of almond, and it was back in no time. The employees knew who he was and they weren't about to keep him waiting. As he grabbed his mug of steaming liquid, he scanned the room; deserted, just how he liked it. He was about to take a seat in one of the booths and begin working on one of his newest schemes to outwit his father, when he noticed a petite blonde crying and shaking violently. After further inspection, he realized it was Chloe. As he crossed the room to comfort her, he thought to himself, 'What did Clark do now?' He always seemed to break the poor girl's heart.  
  
He sat down, close to her and pulled out some tissues from his pocket. "I come bearing gifts." He proclaimed, holding them out to her. At her slightly shocked expression -not only did Lex Luthor just initiate a conversation but it seemed as though he actually cared that she was crying- he said, "They're not used, I swear." Before plucking one out from the middle of the stack. "Except for that one." That got a giggle out of her, which was a good start for someone more used to making people cry than cheering them up.  
  
She smiled bashfully up at him. "You probably think I'm a real loser. Here, alone, crying my heart out in the middle of the night."  
  
He looked directly into her eyes, a bright pink from crying. "You're not a loser. You could never be a loser. Is there any specific reason you were crying, or do you just do it for kicks?"  
  
She smiled weakly at him. "Why do you think I'm crying?" Chloe asked simply.  
  
Lex understood. "What did Clark do this time?"  
  
Chloe was about to answer when they were interrupted by the waitress. "I'm sorry, but we're closing. It's 11:30." Chloe and Lex looked up at the clock, surprised, they had both stayed a lot longer than they expected to. They both started towards the door and just as she was about to get into her car, Lex asked Chloe, "Would you like to go for a ride? I would really like to finish this conversation." Chloe nodded her head numbly. Lex Luthor -the one and only Lex Luthor- who she had never really talked to beyond pleasantries such as "How are things at the Torch?" "Fine, and the plant?" "Fine as well." was suddenly displaying a lot of interest in her and she had to admit, she liked it.  
  
She slipped into the passenger's side of his BMW z7, one of those cars you dream about but are never really able to afford, unless of course, you're a Luthor. He revved the engine and they began to speed through town.  
  
"So, anywhere in particular you want to go?" He asked her.  
  
"As long as it's not over a bridge, it's fine by me." Lex couldn't help but laugh at that, even when she was depressed, she was still as witty as ever. Chloe became even more amazed at how the night was turning out. She had gotten a real laugh out of him, something about as rare as Lana actually caring about how your day went.  
  
They continued driving through town, turning in circles, simply talking. Chloe explained how Clark had blown up at her about her inquisitiveness and how he had said she was a bad friend which hurt the most because, in reality, she had only been trying to help. She seemed so upset by what had happened that Lex felt compelled to do something, anything, to cheer her up. That's when it hit him. He knew exactly what would help brighten her mood. "So, maybe sometime soon we could finish up that interview we started a while ago. You know? The one we had begun before I was robbed by meteor mutants."  
  
It had the desired effect. Her face light up and she said "How about tomorrow? I was going to go to the movies with Pete and Clark, but I don't think that'll happen."  
  
He smiled at her. "Tomorrow sounds fine."  
  
They pulled in front of Chloe's house and she got out. "You sure you won't get in trouble for being out so late?" It was now about quarter past midnight.  
  
"Nah. I had told my dad I was going to be late laying out the Torch tonight, he won't care at all."  
  
"Okay, see you tomorrow at 3:30." And with that he sped off. Chloe entered her house feeling light-hearted. She had finally gotten the interview that could get her into the Planet. An interview with Lex Luthor was worth Chloe's weight in gold.  
  
Lex strolled into his mansion and went up to his assistant. "What do I have to do tomorrow?"  
  
"You have a very important meeting with the head of Sidfel Inc."  
  
"Cancel it. Something came up."  
  
"Are you sure? If you cancel it, your father will probably win control of it."  
  
"I'm positive. Something way more important came up."  
How's that so far? I think it's half-way decent considering that this was not the plot I had originally intended for the story. Please keep up the pretty reviews, they make me feel all warm and tingly inside. *Kelly* 


	5. The Interview

Author's note: I hope you guys like this and PLEASE review. I beg you. I'm at your mercy. If you don't like something about it or think I'm a sucky writer, just tell me! (And also tell me why, please.) I really want to improve. *BTW, I'll be skipping around through point of views.  
  
Chloe threw a funky purple beaded skirt across the room. She scanned her closet, it was almost empty. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you couldn't even see her floor because of the mass amounts of clothes covering it. There were still a few things left in the closet and she decided to try those before despairing. She didn't know what was wrong with her, she's done interviews before and she's never worried this much about her appearance. 'That's because it wasn't with Lex.' She reminded herself. 'So? I don't like Lex that way.' She retorted. 'Sure you don't.' Was the response, slathered in sarcasm. Even Chloe's thoughts were sardonic. She shook her head violently; schizophrenia was NOT good. What did it matter how she looked? It was just another interview, right? It was just Lex, no one special, just Lex. So then why was she so nervous?  
  
*****************  
  
Lex was sitting in his library; book in hand, waiting for Chloe to arrive. When he heard his maid stirring to answer the door, he threw the worn leather book to the side and hurried down to stop her. He wanted to greet Chloe himself. He opened the door with a smirk and let her in. He took her in. Wow. She looked a lot better than the other night. Today, she looked really hot. 'Okay, underage girl here, really should not be thinking about her like that. Time to change the subject.' "Shall we begin, or would you like coffee first?"  
  
Chloe smiled and held up the Styrofoam cup in her hand, plastered with the label 'The TALON', she cocked her head ever-so-slightly to the side in a very Chloe gesture. "It's my life force." She explained. "I had to be prepared in case you didn't offer."  
  
Lex feigned hurt. "Me? Not be a perfect gentleman and observe my duties well as host? Never."  
  
Chloe's smile brightened. "I couldn't imagine. Now what's say we go start this interview?" She didn't want to seem too anxious but she couldn't help it, this was, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. She followed the Luthor heir up the extravagantly large steps to his office. He sat down in the large worn-looking leather sofa and she followed his lead.  
  
He laid back into the seat, stretching, making himself comfortable. Then he asked, "So what do you want to know?"  
  
*****************  
  
As she reached inside her purse for her camera, she tried to calm herself down. She couldn't get her heart to stop beating so quickly. It was loud, too; she was amazed Lex hadn't heard it yet. She had never been this nervous about anything before. She was very pleased with the outfit she had picked, though. She was wearing a reddish-pink shirt with billowing sleeves that showed just the right amount of cleavage. She had a deep brown, knee-length skirt on and she completed the outfit with knee- high, tan boots. She wasn't sure if she looked good but when she saw Lex's approving glance, she knew she did. She had to admit, he looked really good, too. He was wearing a pale blue tight shirt that accentuated his eyes. and his muscles. She looked up into his eyes and saw Lex looking at her expectantly. 'Right, the interview.' She thought and hoped that he hadn't seen her gawking.  
  
She turned the camera on, hit record, and placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch. She faced him, took a deep breath and asked him, "So, is there anything that you'd like to cover, you know, for PR reasons or whatever, first, before I go off on my tangent?" and looked up at him. It was then that she realized just how close they were sitting -not that she had a problem with it.  
  
Lex grinned at her. "I was actually thinking that we could trade; question for question and if you don't answer mine, then I don't answer yours. How does that sound?"  
  
She grinned back. "That sounds like a pretty fair deal; I'll go first." Lex smirked, that was obviously the answer he had been anticipating. "Why do you want to ask me questions?"  
  
His eyebrows rose, she had caught him off guard with that question. That he hadn't been expecting. "Well," He began. "You seem to be a very interesting person, from what I've seen of you and from what Clark has told me of you, but I've never really gotten to know you. I'd like to do that." Chloe's face was now tinged with a light, lovely shade of pink; she couldn't help it, he sounded so sincere and this is Lex Luthor we're talking about. With him, compliments like that and sincerity were really hard to come by. "Now," He said. "I do believe that it's my turn to ask you a question."  
  
He seemed to consider his question for a moment and then asked cautiously, "Do you still like Clark, despite all of the trials you two have had?"  
  
Now it was Chloe's turn to be surprised. Quite honestly, Clark was the last person on her mind right now. She hesitated slightly and then responded. "To answer your question, no, I don't like Clark that way." She could have sworn that she saw Lex breathe a sigh of relief. "But not so much because of all of the things that he puts me through, more because he's too blinded by the ever lovely and effervescent Miss Lang to even notice that I even exist."  
  
"That's his loss, and some other lucky man's gain. He leaned in closer to her. He was no longer looking at her eyes, but her lips. "Some guys just don't realize what they have." Then, suddenly his lips were on hers. Chloe's body, seemingly of its own volition, responded almost immediately. But then, Chloe, startled, broke away.  
  
"I've got to go to the bathroom." She said quickly as she ran out of the room. Lex scolded himself. 'You idiot! Why'd you make a move? She obviously doesn't like you like that. Now she's never going to talk to you again. So much for having a genius IQ.'  
  
Chloe ran as fast as she could down the corridor. After trying about seven or eight different doors, she finally found a bathroom. She ran into it, locked the door, and pressed her back against the wall. She took a deep breath. 'Now what was that?' She glanced at her reflection in the elegant full-length mirror hanging on the wall. She looked a little flushed and her hair was a little messed up, but aside from that she didn't look half bad. She breathed deeply and waited until she had regained her composure before she dared venture outside. She took slow steps on the plush, deep red rug that was most likely an antique. Finally she saw the door to Lex's office and stepped inside. She grabbed her purse and said to him, "Well, thanks so much for the interview, but I've really got to go. Bye Lex." And with that she scampered quickly down the steps and out the front door headed towards her car.  
  
Lex looked down at the table and saw Chloe's camera. He was about to go run it out to her, but then he got an idea. His mouth spread wide in a grin. He just hoped this would work. 


End file.
